“Of course I was, but don’t tell him that. It is the only restitution I can offer the one man who managed to befriend me when friends were the last thing I wanted.”
Matthew helped Lucy down from the cart. Just like the last few stops, when her feet landed on the ground he pulled her into an embrace before turning to the house.
“What is this I’ve been hearing?” Mr. Garvis asked. He strode forward and put a hand on Matthew’s shoulder. “After spending all last night at my house, dodging questions about the two of you and telling me you had no hope for a relationship with Miss Shroud, I find out the two of you have been going about town telling everyone you are engaged.”
“It’s true,” Matthew said and then pulled his friend into an embrace.
Mrs. Garvis clapped her hands and then grabbed Lucy by both of hers. “I’m so happy for you. I’m glad all of our worry last night was for naught.”
Lucy looked up at Matthew, then back to Mr. and Mrs. Garvis. “That is just the beginning of the news we have for you.” she said.
“More than being engaged?” Mrs. Garvis asked.
Matthew put a hand behind his neck and winced slightly. “The truth is, Lucy and I have been engaged for three years.”
Mrs. Garvis blinked, then looked between the two of them. “Who is Lucy?”
Lucy stepped forward. “I am. Our marriage was arranged, and Matthew decided to run away instead of marry me.”
“Hey,” Matthew said. “I wouldn’t have run away if you hadn’t told your thirteen-year-old sister to pretend she was you.”
Mr. and Mrs. Garvis were speechless. After a moment, Mrs. Garvis rubbed her head. “Your name is Matthew?”
Lucy smiled. “Mr. and Mrs. Garvis, may I present to you Mr. Matthew Harrison, son of Lord and Lady Bridgewater, Baron of Bridgewater.”
Mr. and Mrs. Garvis glanced at each other, then back to Matthew, his worn clothing and rough hands, then simultaneously burst into laughter. Their laughter lasted for at least a minute before Mrs. Garvis wiped a tear from her eye and motioned for them to come inside. “I’ll make you some tea while you tell us more of your plans. Yourrealplans, mind you. None of this baron nonsense.”
Mr. Garvis put his hand on Mrs. Garvis’s back, and they turned around to go into the house. “You know, if you’d told us Miss Shroud was titled, we might have believed it.” He craned his neck around to look at Matthew. “But Mr. Scarper? He slept on my floor last night.”
“Only because you wouldn’t let me leave,” Matthew said.
“Ah, yes.” Mrs. Garvis turned to Lucy. “Thank you again, Miss Shroud, for making us keep an eye on him so he and Peter could finally put that bookcase together. Did everything get sorted out with Miss Creighton?”
Lucy and Matthew locked eyes. “That was why I spent the night last night? You were trying to keep Miss Creighton from telling me who you were?”
“Miss Creighton didn’t know who I was.”
“But she was aware of your connection with my mother.”
“Yes, and I wanted to tell you I was your fiancée on my own terms. Not because Miss Creighton forced me to do it.”
“I almost ran away, though, when I saw my mother’s carriage outside the millinery. What would you have done then?”
“I would have run an ad in the paper.”
“My mother would never have allowed that.”
“Your mother wouldn’t have known. Not until it was too late.”
Mr. and Mrs. Garvis were both staring at them as they’d never seen Matthew and Lucy before. Mr. Garvis’s eyes went wide. “That was your mother’s carriage today?”
Matthew put his arm around Lucy’s waist—a motion that was already becoming familiar—and nodded. “I suppose you saw it.”
“I—” Mr. Garvis started, but he was interrupted by the door being flung open and Mandy rushing out. She went directly to Matthew and gave him a lopsided curtsy, then ran and hugged Lucy around her full skirts. She looked up into Lucy’s face. “Mama said I can’t ask if you’ve brought me anything.”
Lucy sighed. She should have thought to bring Mandy something. It might be ages before they saw her again. “I’m sorry. We didn’t today.”
She expected Mandy’s face to fall, but it didn’t. Instead she smiled. “I guess it is a good thing I didn’t ask you then. I might have been disappointed,” she said with a smile.
